What colour used car?

Survey reveals that some customers buy cars in colours with an eye on depreciation

Published: 03 October, 2011

Nearly 60% of motorists are driving cars in colours they don't like according to a recent survey by an auction company. Black was clearly the preferred colour with 31% of men and 30% of women respondents claiming it to be their favourite colour but interestingly only 14% of men and 12% of women actually drove a black car.

The second favourite colour, silver was driven by 25% of men and 24% of women while in third place men preferred blue with women opting for red.

The survey also revealed that even though black was the favourite colour throughout Great Britain, silver cars dominated on the roads except in East Anglia, the South West and Yorkshire & Humberside where there were more blue cars on the road than any other colour.

White is not a popular colour in the UK at the moment. Only 6% of respondents favoured it with just 4% actually driving one.

Craig Mailey of Manheim Auctions, who commissioned the research said: "Colours are an important factor when cars come to auction. Certain colours such as black, silver and blue, especially metallic, can add value to a vehicle. Non standard, or vivid colours may seem like a good idea at the time but second-hand values may suffer as these are not favoured by used car dealers because the pool of buyers likely to be interested in these colours is that much smaller."

The survey was conducted by One Poll in August 2011 with 3,000 respondents

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